xxix, 816 p. ; 24 cm

"This comparative study of state constitutions offers insightful overviews of the general and specific problems that have confronted America's constitution writers since the country's founding. Each chapter reflects the constitutional theory and history of a single state, encompassing each document's structure, content, and evolution"--Provided by publisher

Includes bibliographical references and index

The slow evolution of the "constitution state" / Elizabeth Beaumont -- The Maine Constitution : a tradition of consensus / Kenneth T. Palmer and Jonathan Thomas -- The Massachusetts Constitution : liberty and equality in the commonwealth / Kenneth L. Manning -- New Hampshire and the constitutional movement / B. Thomas Schuman -- Constitutionalism in Rhode Island : continuity of colonial design / Elmer Cornwell -- The green mountain boys constitute Vermont / Celise Schneider -- Pioneer and outlier : Maryland constitutionalism in its third century / Thomas F. Schaller -- Constitutionalism in New Jersey : constitutional failures in a changing political environment / Melissa Scheier -- The New York Constitution : emerging principles in American constitutional thought / Howard L. Lubert -- Pennsylvania : virtue, liberty, and independence / Jeffrey P. Bauman -- Festina lente : the development of constitutionalism in Delaware / Carol E. Hoffecker and Barbara E. Benson -- Constitutionalism in Kentucky : adapting an archaic charter / Penny M. Miller and Amanda L. Cooper -- Missouri constitutionalism : meandering toward progress, 1820-2004 / Ronald Brecke and Greg Plumb -- The West Virginia Constitution : securing the popular interest / Robert E. DiClerico -- Political geography and power elites : big mules and the Alabama Constitution / Anne Permaloff and Carl Grafton -- Change and continuity in Arkansas politics after the 1874 Arkansas State Constitutional Convention / Franklyn C. Niles -- Florida : defining and redefining citizen and community / Rebecca Mae Salokar -- Georgia : tectonic plates shifting / Melvin B. Hill Jr. and LaVerne Williamson Hill -- The Louisiana experience : culture, clashes, and codification / Amy Gossett -- Custom, culture, and change : the Mississippi constitutional experience / Angela K. Lewis -- North Carolina : fundamental principles / John V. Orth -- South Carolina : defining power, defining people / Kevin Hill -- The Tennessee Constitution : an unlikely path toward conservatism / Lewis L. Laska -- The Texas Constitution : formal and informal / James E. Anderson -- The development of the Virginia Constitution / John J. Dinan -- Understatement and the development of Illinois constitutionalism / Jeremy Walling -- Justice, order, and liberty : responsible citizenship in Indiana / Jordon B. Barkalow -- Michigan : four constitutions, four new beginnings / David Houghton -- The Ohio Constitution : normatively and empirically distinctive / James L. Walker -- Wisconsin : rejection, ratification, and the evolution of a people / John Zumbrunnen -- The Iowa Constitution : rights over mechanics / Donald P. Racheter -- The Kansas constitution : conservative politics through republican dominance / Francis H. Heller and Paul D. Schumaker -- Framing government for a frontier commonwealth : the Minnesota Constitution(s) / Barbara Allen -- A self-righteous and self-sufficient method for governing : how the Nebraska Constitution preserves a way of life / Christopher W. Larimer -- North Dakota : a constitution implements popular democracy / Theodore B. Pedeliski -- Oklahoma's statutory constitution / Ronald M. Peters Jr. and Michael K. Avery -- South Dakota's constitution : harkening backward, foreshadowing a future / Michael Mullin and Jon Lauck -- Sides of Colorado, amplified through constitutional redesign / Vicky Bollenbacher -- The constitutional Idahoan / Dennis C. Colson -- Montana : community denied, constitutionalism delayed / George E. Connor -- The Nevada state constitution : from polygamy to prostitution / Roberta Q. Herzberg -- Utah's constitution : distinctly undistinctive / Daniel J. H. Greenwood, Christine M. Durham, and Kathy Wyer -- Wyoming : the equality state / Brian A. Ellison -- The Alaska Constitution : promoting statehood, providing stability / Sally H. Campbell -- Arizona's constitution : the Madisonian hope of a western progressive state / Hans L. Eicholz -- The 1849 California Constitution : an extraordinary achievement by dedicated, ordinary people / Gordon Lloyd -- Hawaii : centralization in a multi-island state / Anne Feder Lee -- New Mexico's constitution : promoting pluralism in la tierra encantada / John Bretting and F. Chris Garcia -- Oregon's constitution : a political richter scale / Howard Leichter -- Washington : the past and present populist state / Hugh D. Spitzer

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